Donald E. Chipman

The Traffic in Indian Slaves in the Province of Pánuco, New Spain, 1523-1533

attention was quickly shifted to the peripheral areas of New Spain. One of such areas, variously known in colonial times as Pinuco, the Huasteca, or Vitoria Garayana, was conquered by Cortes in late 1522 or early 1523. In the spring of 1523 the Conqueror founded the villa of Santisteban del Puerto on the Pinuco River; granted encomiendas to some one hundred Spaniards; and returned to Mexico City. Despite an early challenge by Francisco de Garay, the governor of Jamaica, Pinuco was administered by Cortes or the royal treasury officials of New Spain until May, 1527. At this time the crown appointee, Nufio Beltrin de Guzmin, arrived in the province with the title of Governor of Painuco which he held until the last months of 1533.